Past, Present, Future
by kyrdwyn
Summary: Sara's past comes back to affect her present and future - Epilogue posted 2/10/02
1. Past, Present, Future 1/5

Title: Past, Present, Future  
  
Author: kyrdwyn  
  
Rating: R (language, mostly)  
  
Category: Mixed - Romance, UST, angst etc. Mainly involves Sara, Warrick, and Grissom.  
  
Spoilers: Some of the first season, but nothing specific.  
  
Summary: Sara's past comes back to affect her present and her future.  
  
Archived: Will be at my website at some point, also on Fanfiction.net. Other places, please ask first.  
  
Disclaimer: If they appear on CSI, they belong to those companies, CBS, and the actors who make them come alive. The other characters, as well as the plot lines, are mine (or I'm theirs, never quite sure which). Done purely for enjoyment and not for profit.  
  
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It was him. She was sure of it. There was no mistaking the six-foot-two man with black hair, brown eyes and an exquisitely tailored black suit standing in the reception area. Michael. The main reason she had moved to Las Vegas. To get away from him and his mind games. She started to turn around, to leave the reception area before he spotted her, but she wasn't fast enough. She never had been.  
  
His hand grabbed her upper arm and spun her around. "You little slut."  
  
No one else was around to stop him, or hear him. She looked at him like he was insane. "Get your hands off me."  
  
"Not until I've had my say. You used me. Think you could play me like that and get away with it? Not a chance."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" she hissed, upset that he would try to blame her for something. Michael was the one who had ruined their marriage. Michael had beat her, belittled her, sometimes sexually abused her, then gone on his merry way and found another woman he could control. The only difference being this one was blonde.  
  
"I'm talking about Virginia."  
  
Ginny? "I don't know what --" her voice was cut off as he shoved her against a wall, his arm across her throat.  
  
"You thought you had gotten away with it all. Get out of the marriage, move to Sin City, and leave me to raise another man's bastard. You pay a little child support, and laugh up your sleeve at me."  
  
She tried to speak, to explain how much that decision and the money she sent cost her, but his arm was still blocking her airway.  
  
"Shellye pointed it out to me. Virginia's eyes are blue. You and I are both brown eyed. No one in my family has had blue eyes for generations, you whore. So I had us tested. DNA, not just blood. Doesn't match. Not one single marker. You're a scientist," he spat the word as if it were an epithet, "you know what that means. She's not mine. I'm getting the court decree overturned. Virginia is your problem, tramp. You deal with her."  
  
"Let her go!"  
  
Michael was pulled off Sara by the enraged pair of Nick Stokes and Warrick Brown. Sara didn't move, still stunned by Michael's presence, Michael's rage, and Michael's news.  
  
Michael jerked himself out of Nick and Warrick's arms and stalked over to where a small blonde woman sat, a dark haired child on her lap. He took the child from her and walked back to Sara, thrusting the girl into her arms.  
  
"She's your problem now, slut."  
  
Warrick and Nick both started to grab him, but Sara shook her head. They both backed off, but watched the other man warily. Nick's right hand hovered over the butt of his gun in a distinctly menacing gesture. Sara was touched by their support, but she wanted Michael out of the lab and out of her life for good. Again.  
  
Shellye looked as Sara with a smug smile as she and Michael left the lab. Sara knew the other woman hadn't wanted to raise Sara's child. But Michael Sullivan wasn't the type of man to give up anything that was his. Not his wife, not his child - or at least not without a fight. Sara had given up Virginia as a chance to get away. It hadn't been an easy choice, and if Grissom hadn't given her the chance to start over in Vegas she might have gone back to Michael.  
  
"Sara? What was that all about?"  
  
Nick's quiet voice broke into her thoughts. Sara looked down at the two year old in her arms. Her big blue eyes stared up at Sara. -His- eyes. A daughter from a night neither talked about, when both had been slightly drunk and lonely and in a hotel in San Diego. A daughter she would never tell him about, because she didn't want to force him to do something he might regret. Something they both might regret.  
  
"My ex-husband decided he didn't want to raise our daughter," Sara said calmly, though the words sounded strange to her ears. Both men were startled by her sentence, neither knowing about her past life. Grissom had, but not all of it. Same as she hadn't known all of it.  
  
Ginny looked at her mother, uncertain. It had been so long since the two of them had seen each other. "Come on, Ginny. I'll take you home," Sara said, smiling reassuringly. Ginny didn't look reassured.  
  
"Sara, don't you need a car seat or something?" Nick asked, worried about Sara. He knew she didn't like children all that much.  
  
"I think her ex left one," Warrick said, nodding toward the car seat and box of items left by the door.  
  
"He would have," Sara said. "Michael always does that." When Sara had left him, he had boxed up all her things and brought them to the first court hearing. He had managed to get Sara cut out of Ginny's life completely. And now that he knew Ginny wasn't his daughter, he was cutting her off as well. A few more boxes would probably join the car seat and the box full of clothes and toys in a few days. Everything relating to Virginia Sullivan would be removed from Michael's house. Sara would bet her next paycheck on Michael using the DNA results to have his name removed from the birth certificate.  
  
Michael Sullivan never left loose ends in his life. And to him, Sara and Virginia Sidle were loose ends to be cut off completely, without looking back.  
  
Sara hugged Ginny to her. Ginny was not a loose end to her. Ginny was irrevocably tied into her life. Ginny was her future. 


	2. Past, Present, Future 2/5

Title: Past, Present, Future  
  
Author: kyrdwyn  
  
Rating: R (language, mostly)  
  
Category: Mixed - Romance, UST, angst etc. Mainly involves Sara, Warrick, and Grissom.  
  
Spoilers: Some of the first season, but nothing specific.  
  
Summary: Sara's past comes back to affect her present and her future.  
  
Archived: Will be at my website at some point, also on Fanfiction.net. Other places, please ask first.  
  
Disclaimer: If they appear on CSI, they belong to those companies, CBS, and the actors who make them come alive. The other characters, as well as the plot lines, are mine (or I'm theirs, never quite sure which). Done purely for enjoyment and not for profit.  
  
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Sara smiled at the man on her doorstep. "Come on in."  
  
Warrick smiled back as he stepped inside. "Wanted to see how you two were getting along."  
  
Sara's smile got wider. "We're doing fine."  
  
A voice called out from the living room. "Juice?" A raven-haired girl came into view, clutching her sippy cup in both hands. Sara smiled down at her.  
  
"Of course, but its nap time."  
  
Warrick tried not to laugh as Ginny's face took on a mutinous expression much like her mother's when a suspect or piece of evidence wouldn't cooperate. In fact, if it weren't for the startling blue eyes, Ginny would have been a mini-Sara.  
  
He waited as Sara got the girl her drink and picked her up to carry her into the second bedroom. He wandered further into Sara's apartment, picking up details. Ginny's abrupt insertion into her mother's life was apparent in the toys strewn on the floor and the Disney videotapes on a shelf next to the television. Most telling were the parenting books on the counter between the living room and the kitchen. Sara had left Ginny's father when the child was barely six months old. From what little information Warrick had been able to glean, Sara's ex-husband was an SOB who treated Sara like dirt. She had to leave him for her health and sanity. Unfortunately, he'd also had the better lawyers, and gotten custody of Ginny. Two months ago, he'd dropped Ginny into her mother's life and walked away from his daughter.  
  
A photograph sitting on top of the counter caught his eye. Sara was sitting on the steps outside the crime lab, Ginny on her lap. Sara was looking down at Ginny, her expression a mixture of wonder and awe. Ginny was smiling up at the camera, eyes wide and fascinated. The same expression…  
  
"Sorry I took so long. She's really stubborn sometimes." Sara's voice sounded behind him, and he turned.  
  
"Kinda like her mother, huh?" he asked with a smile.  
  
Sara looked down, her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"Or her father," Warrick said, looking down at the photograph.  
  
Sara looked up, startled. "Michael?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, Grissom."  
  
Shock and panic crossed Sara's face before she could control herself. She tried to assume a bland mask, but Warrick already knew he was right.  
  
"Ginny is…"  
  
"I've got eyes, Sara. I've seen the way you look at Gris. He said you were a friend, but I always thought there had been something more between you. Ginny's got his eyes." He held out the photograph. "You can see it so clearly here."  
  
Sara didn't look at the photograph, rather at him. "Please, don't…"  
  
"Don't what?" He was puzzled by the plea in her voice.  
  
"Don't tell him. He doesn't know. I didn't know," she stepped closer. "I thought she was Michael's. Blue eyes are not uncommon in my family."  
  
"Why don't you want to tell him?"  
  
"Because I don't even know if he remembers that night. Neither of us were sober. I don't want him to feel obligated either. You know how he is, Warrick. He's a loner, a guy who is much happier racing bugs and opening corpses than trying to court a woman or change a diaper."  
  
"Sara, she's his daughter! Doesn't he have a right to know?"  
  
"Legally, she's Michael's daughter," Sara's expression was stubborn.  
  
"How can you work with the man, keeping such a secret from him?"  
  
"I'm not saying its easy, Warrick. If we had been in love or dating it might be different. But it was one night, in a hotel in San Diego. A CSI conference. I had argued with Michael over the phone and was trying to drink myself to sleep. I don't know why he was drinking, but he was. One thing led to another."  
  
Warrick looked at Sara, at those brown eyes that were pleading with him.  
  
"Sara, he ought to know."  
  
"I know, and I will tell him. Someday. Just…not now."  
  
Warrick sighed. "If he finds out on his own, Sara, he'll be hurt."  
  
She nodded.  
  
"I won't tell him. But you have to."  
  
Sara nodded again. "Thank you."  
  
"Don't thank me yet."  
  
She smiled. "You're a good friend, Warrick."  
  
He shook his head. "I'm only thinking about Ginny."  
  
She blinked. "Well, at least someone is. Michael sure isn't and I'm not exactly unbiased in this area, huh?"  
  
He chuckled. "No."  
  
Sara turned toward Ginny's room, her body tense. A few silent seconds later, she turned back to him. "Thought I heard her."  
  
Warrick stood there. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Sara over her secret. But neither did he want to ruin his friendship with Grissom.  
  
"Care to stay for lunch?" Sara asked. "I could use some company that speaks English, not two year old."  
  
Warrick smiled. "I'd love to." 


	3. Past, Present, Future 3/5

Title: Past, Present, Future  
  
Author: kyrdwyn  
  
Rating: R (language, mostly)  
  
Category: Mixed - Romance, UST, angst etc. Mainly involves Sara, Warrick, and Grissom.  
  
Spoilers: Some of the first season, but nothing specific.  
  
Summary: Sara's past comes back to affect her present and her future.  
  
Archived: Will be at my website at some point, also on Fanfiction.net. Other places, please ask first.  
  
Disclaimer: If they appear on CSI, they belong to those companies, CBS, and the actors who make them come alive. The other characters, as well as the plot lines, are mine (or I'm theirs, never quite sure which). Done purely for enjoyment and not for profit.  
  
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Grissom watched as Sara hurried out of the crime lab and into her car. He knew where she was going - home to see her daughter. Six months of full time motherhood had changed Sara, for the better in his opinion. He no longer worried about her mental health, about the job getting to her when she had no outlet, nothing outside the job to take her mind off the things she dealt with every day. Now, she had Ginny.  
  
He wondered when Sara planned on telling him. He could see the knowledge in her eyes, and the guilt, every time she looked at him. She just hadn't gotten the courage to tell him. But he wasn't blind - he could see his own eyes looking back at him when Ginny was at the lab. He remembered that night in San Diego. He remembered feeling sick, afterward, over the fact that she was married. She'd felt the same guilt, so they'd reached an unspoken agreement to never discuss it. But somehow they'd remained friends. He'd asked to her Las Vegas not only because he needed help and she was a good CSI, but also because he knew she'd left her husband and needed a fresh start. Las Vegas was a good place for fresh starts.  
  
He hadn't known about Ginny. Not until Michael had dumped her in Sara's lap. It had been a surprise. Even more so the first time he saw those eyes and knew.  
  
He sighed. Until Sara worked up the courage to tell him, he couldn't do anything. He wouldn't do anything. Sara had her demons she had to overcome, and if keeping Ginny's paternity a secret helped her do that, then he wasn't going to ruin it for her. Sara was a good friend, and he wanted to see her happy.  
  
Still, he wanted to be able to treat Ginny as his daughter, at least the best way he could. Getting close to people was still hard for him. It meant cracking the shell he'd erected around himself, so many years before, to keep the pressures and problems of his profession from getting to him. To keep himself from burning out, the way he'd seen others burn out. The way he had feared Sara would burn out.  
  
That was another reason why he hadn't pushed Sara. He needed to adjust to the idea, to figure out how to fit Ginny - and her mother - into the relative order of his life. Being Ginny's father would mean dealing with Sara on a level that was more than professional colleague, but less than lovers. An awkward limbo he wasn't sure he could handle.  
  
Warrick walked by, and Grissom could see the odd expression in the man's light eyes. He and Sara had gotten closer over the past few months, the antagonism of their early relationship giving way to mutual respect, and maybe something more. Grissom wouldn't say anything to them unless it interfered with the job.  
  
Still, the fact that Warrick knew about Ginny bothered Grissom. Why had Sara told him, and not Grissom? He sighed, sitting down at his desk. He wanted to talk this problem over with someone, but keeping Sara's secrets was paramount to him. That meant both Brass and Catherine were out as confidants. He was pretty much on his own.  
  
There was only one thing he really could do - be Sara's friend and mentor and act accordingly towards Ginny. Speaking of that…  
  
Gil reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a plastic shopping bag. Inside was the birthday present he'd bought for Ginny. Sara was bringing the girl to the lab tomorrow for her third birthday party. He'd found a toy microscope that was appropriate for Ginny's age. Something he would be expected to give to a child of a colleague.  
  
It wasn't what he wanted to give to his daughter. But until Sara felt comfortable enough to tell him the truth, it was all he could do. 


	4. Past, Present, Future 4/5

Title: Past, Present, Future  
  
Author: kyrdwyn  
  
Rating: R (language, mostly)  
  
Category: Mixed - Romance, UST, angst etc. Mainly involves Sara, Warrick, and Grissom.  
  
Spoilers: Some of the first season, but nothing specific.  
  
Summary: Sara's past comes back to affect her present and her future.  
  
Archived: Will be at my website at some point, also on Fanfiction.net. Other places, please ask first.  
  
Disclaimer: If they appear on CSI, they belong to those companies, CBS, and the actors who make them come alive. The other characters, as well as the plot lines, are mine (or I'm theirs, never quite sure which). Done purely for enjoyment and not for profit.  
  
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Ginny was asleep in her room, tired out from playing hide and seek with Warrick while Sara had been busy cleaning. The young girl had taken to Warrick like a favored uncle. He enjoyed spending time with Ginny, finding her to be fun and intelligent. When he had a night off and Sara had to work, Warrick often volunteered to baby-sit.  
  
That had started to change their relationship as well, and now Sara lay on her couch with her head in Warrick's lap, his hand stroking her hair, as they watched a forensic show on the Discovery Channel. They commented on the procedures and how they would have worked the case.  
  
Sara enjoyed this quiet time, when Ginny was asleep and she could sit down and rest. She didn't know how Catherine had managed it when Lindsay was Ginny's age. Then again, Eddie had still been in the picture. Though Warrick was wonderful with Ginny,  
  
and she wasn't even his daughter.  
  
Warrick was rapidly turning into more than just a friend and colleague. Though they hid it at work, they had become lovers as well, finding something in each other's arms that they were slowly coming to realize they didn't want to live without.  
  
They had shared more than just their bodies, they had shared their pasts. He told her about growing up in Las Vegas with his grandmother, and about the woman who had broken his heart. She told him about her hippie parents and her marriage to Michael.  
  
The only sore point between them was the fact that Sara still hadn't told Grissom that Virginia was his daughter.  
  
She sighed, and Warrick's hand came to rest on her neck, lightly massaging the muscles. Sara knew, on an instinctive level, that Grissom had to know. She had hated every moment of the time she was cut out of Ginny's life, spending all her time at work to ignore the ache in her heart for her little girl. And she knew that if her relationship with Warrick was going to continue in the direction it seemed to be going, she was going to have to tell Grissom.  
  
The show ended, and Warrick turned the TV off. He looked down at her, and smiled. He and Sara had gotten off to a bad start, but in time they'd managed to establish a solid working relationship. He'd never imagined falling in love with her, and Ginny. Ginny was just as important to him as Sara was. He was just afraid of what would happen when Sara finally told Grissom. Would the other man try to form a family with Sara and Ginny? Would Warrick lose Sara to the lover she'd had one night with three years ago?  
  
"I'm going to tell him."  
  
Warrick was startled out of his thoughts by her quiet declaration. He didn't say anything, not knowing what brought this on.  
  
"He needs to know. And…I need him to know. So I can answer that question you asked."  
  
He was startled. He had asked the question offhand, one night, as they lay in her bed. She hadn't answered him then, and he thought she hadn't heard him, or was ignoring him. When several weeks had passed, he figured she had forgotten about it. Apparently, she hadn't.  
  
"No matter what happens when I tell him, I still…Ginny adores you. I don't want anything to change that."  
  
Warrick nodded, trying not to show how the words bothered him. He knew Ginny adored her 'Uncle Wick'. He wanted to know how her mother felt about him. They were lovers, but did she love him?  
  
He could only wait, and hope, that she loved him the way he loved her. 


	5. Past, Present, Future 5/5

Title: Past, Present, Future  
  
Author: kyrdwyn  
  
Rating: R (language, mostly)  
  
Category: Mixed - Romance, UST, angst etc. Mainly involves Sara, Warrick, and Grissom.  
  
Spoilers: Some of the first season, but nothing specific.  
  
Summary: Sara's past comes back to affect her present and her future.  
  
Archived: Will be at my website at some point, also on Fanfiction.net. Other places, please ask first.  
  
Disclaimer: If they appear on CSI, they belong to those companies, CBS, and the actors who make them come alive. The other characters, as well as the plot lines, are mine (or I'm theirs, never quite sure which). Done purely for enjoyment and not for profit.  
  
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Grissom stood in the hallway outside Sara's apartment, waiting for her to open the door. She'd called him and asked him to stop by, saying that she needed to talk to him, outside of work. He wondered if she was finally going to tell him.  
  
She opened the door, Ginny standing behind her, her arm around her mother's leg. Her blue eyes looked up at Grissom curiously.  
  
"Hey, Grissom, thanks for coming."  
  
"No problem," he replied as he entered her apartment. Ginny followed him, and after she had shut and locked the door, Sara found the two in the living room, Ginny proudly showing Gil something in her toy microscope that he had given her for her birthday. Grissom smiled at Ginny, and Sara's heart flipped. It was more than the smile he gave for someone who had found a key piece of evidence or had surprised him in some pleasant way. It was a warm, almost paternal smile. Sara wondered if he knew, if he suspected. It was always possible. Grissom, despite his social flaws, wasn't stupid.  
  
Ginny was chattering to Grissom, and he was still smiling at her. He looked up and his eyes met Sara's. In that instant, Sara knew that he did know. In a way, that made it easier for her. But it also made it so much harder.  
  
Ginny had lost interest in the microscope and Grissom and scampered off her to room to find another toy. Grissom stood up and faced Sara, his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Ginny's your daughter." It was the only way she could say it.  
  
Grissom nodded. "I suspected that."  
  
"You never said anything."  
  
He looked at her with those blue eyes. "I figured you had your reasons for not telling me."  
  
"I was scared. I didn't know Ginny wasn't Michael's until he brought her here. And then I was trying to get used to her, and I admit I was selfish about not wanting to share her."  
  
"You shared her with Warrick." His words were soft, but full of pain. Sara realized that not telling him about Ginny hadn't bothered him, but letting Warrick into Ginny's life had. She didn't know what to say or how to apologize to him.  
  
"Sara, I want to be a part of Ginny's life."  
  
She nodded. "I want Ginny to know who her father is. I want her to be able to spend time with you. But you and I --"  
  
Grissom cut her off. "Sara, you and I could never be, even for Ginny's sake. I just…I'm too set in my ways, too old to change. And, I know that you're in love with Warrick."  
  
Sara stared at Grissom, astounded. She and Warrick had tried to be discreet, not giving away their feelings while at work.  
  
Grissom saw the shock and smiled. "I'm may be a 'social misfit' in some things, Sara, but I have noticed the way the two of you act. I can't help it - you're the mother of my child. Probably the only child I will ever have. If there is going to be another man acting as her father, I'd like to know. Though I can't think of anyone else I'd rather see Ginny look up to other than Warrick. He's a good man."  
  
Sara smiled. "He is. Ginny adores him. She calls him 'Uncle Wick'."  
  
Grissom felt a pang in his heart. Ginny called him "Mr. Gwissy." He wasn't close enough to his own daughter to be called "uncle", and especially not "daddy".  
  
"I guess the next step is telling Ginny," Sara said softly.  
  
"Will she understand?" Grissom asked. "She's only three."  
  
"I don't know," Sara said truthfully.  
  
Grissom sighed. It felt like someone was tearing his heart out, but he had to ask this next question. "Are planning on marrying Warrick?"  
  
Sara looked up, and he saw the answer in her eyes before she spoke. "He asked me, but I couldn't answer him until I told you the truth."  
  
"And now?"  
  
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the floor. "I never thought I could feel safe again after what Michael did to me. Never thought I could trust anyone but myself, and you. You're a great friend, a great mentor, and you gave me Ginny. I didn't mean to trust Warrick, and didn't mean to let him into my heart," Sara looked up at Grissom, "but now I don't want to let him go."  
  
Grissom saw the love for Warrick in Sara's eyes. He'd seen that love in another woman's eyes so long ago, and knew what it was like to have someone else stand in the way. He'd lost her to another man. He had closed his heart afterward, not wanting to be hurt again. He couldn't do that to Sara, or to Warrick. They both were too special to him, for different reasons.  
  
"If you marry Warrick, Ginny will start to call him 'Daddy'. Maybe it would be better if she didn't know about me being her real father."  
  
"Grissom…" Sara's voice was strangled with shock. He shook his head.  
  
"Ginny doesn't need to be confused like that, Sara. It will be a lot easier for her if she thinks of me as a friend, maybe an uncle." It wouldn't be easier for him, but he was the odd man out in this relationship. Sara and Warrick and Ginny were already a family unit. He couldn't tear that apart just to be closer to his daughter.  
  
Sara knew why Grissom was doing this, and she almost starting crying at what she saw in his eyes. His glasses couldn't hide the pain he felt at giving up his daughter. She stepped closer, putting her hand on his arm. "I don't want you to do this, Grissom. Ginny deserves you as her father."  
  
He didn't look at her. "Ginny deserves the best, Sara. Not to be confused by having a real father and a step-father."  
  
"What happens when Ginny finds out, Grissom? She's going to find out at some point. She'll know Warrick isn't her real father, and Michael already had her birth certificate changed."  
  
"Then I'll explain it to her, Sara. I'm not saying I won't be around for her, just…not as her father."  
  
Sara saw that Grissom's mind was made up. She smiled at him, then reached up to lightly kiss him on the cheek, startling him. "Thank you," she said softly.  
  
Grissom smiled sadly, wishing life could have turned out differently for him and Sara and Ginny. But it hadn't. "Be happy, Sara," he said, kissing her forehead. He turned to leave her apartment, but Ginny stopped him, demanding that he see something in her room. Sara followed, her throat hurting with unshed tears. Grissom was such a natural around Ginny. Before Grissom left, Sara whispered something in Ginny's ear. The girl looked at her with Grissom's eyes before turning to tug on Grissom's slacks. He looked down at her.  
  
"I wanna kiss, Uncle Gwissy."  
  
Grissom looked at Sara, his eyes unreadable. She smiled slightly, knowing that if he wouldn't let himself be Ginny's father, she was going to make sure he was still in Ginny's life.  
  
Grissom leaned down and picked Ginny up, planting a kiss on her cheek. She giggled, kissing him back. He smiled at Ginny, and only Sara saw the sadness in his eyes.  
  
After Grissom left, Sara picked up Ginny and hugged her tight. She wished that things could have been different for all of them. That she and Warrick could be together, and Ginny could know Grissom as her father.  
  
A knock on the door made her turn, and she set Ginny down to open it. Warrick stood there, a toy in one hand and a rose in the other. He looked at Sara and entered the apartment, handing Ginny the toy and pulling Sara into his arms. Sara leaned against his solid warmth, her arms wrapping around his waist.  
  
"Yes," was all she said. Warrick looked down at her, into her eyes and saw the pain left over from the conversation with Grissom. He'd seen the man's face when he'd left. But he also saw the love in Sara's eyes; a love he knew was reflected in his own. He leaned down and kissed her in a promise to always understand that her past would be present in their future. 


	6. The Wedding (Epilogue)

Title: The Wedding (Epilogue to 'Past, Present, Future')  
  
Author: kyrdwyn  
  
Rating: G  
  
Category: Romance  
  
Spoilers: 'Past, Present, Future'  
  
Summary: I think the title says it all.  
  
Archived: Will be at my website at some point, also on Fanfiction.net. Other places, please ask first.  
Disclaimer: If they appear on CSI, they belong to those companies, CBS, and the actors who make them come alive. The other characters, as well as the plot lines, are mine (or I'm theirs, never quite sure which). Done purely for enjoyment and not for profit.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
Grissom stood at the back of the room, watching as Warrick nervously adjusted the cuffs of his shirt. The others in the room were amused - their colleague was usually unruffled. But, Grissom had to admit today was a big day for him. Warrick was getting married.  
  
The wedding was being held in a small church on the outskirts of Vegas. It was the church Warrick's grandmother had brought him to when he was growing up. She was in with the bride now, along with Warrick's Aunt Bertha, helping her get ready for the wedding. Grissom, Nick, and Greg were with Warrick, acting as his groomsmen. Nick, as the best man, was teasing Warrick about forgetting the ring. Warrick, staring out the window, didn't respond. Grissom finally glared Nick into silence.  
  
Greg looked uncomfortable in the tuxedo with his hair combed into some semblance of normalcy. But when Warrick's grandmother had started in on Greg's hair earlier that day, he couldn't really say anything. Mrs. Brown was already worried that there were an odd number of bridesmaids to groomsmen. Sara had Catherine as her maid of honor, and Mandy as a bridesmaid. Lindsey was the flower girl. With Nick escorting Catherine and Greg escorting Mandy, that left Grissom to walk down the aisle alone. That fact distressed Warrick's grandmother. Grissom had gently reassured her that he didn't mind. He'd had the option of escorting Lindsey, but she had wanted to walk alone in front of Sara.  
  
A knock on the door alerted them that it was just about time. The three groomsmen congratulated Warrick as they reached the antechamber to the sanctuary. Mrs. Brown, Catherine, Lindsey, and Mandy were there. Sara was still in the bride's dressing room, waiting until Warrick escorted his grandmother down the aisle. Sara's daughter Virginia was in the room as well, dressed to match the women of the wedding party in a pale green dress that was similar to Lindsey's. Her blue eyes were angry and upset. She wasn't crying, but she looked like she was about to.  
  
Grissom went over and knelt next to his blood daughter. Ginny still didn't know that her "Uncle Gwissy" was her real father. She believed that Sara's ex-husband Michael was, while Warrick was about to become her stepfather.  
  
"What's wrong, Ginny?" Grissom asked quietly.  
  
She looked up at him with eyes so similar to his. "I don't wanna sit with Gramma Brown."  
  
Grissom frowned. "I thought you liked her."  
  
"I wanna be in mommy's wedding!" she said with all the despair a three year old can put into her voice. Grissom looked over the rest of the wedding party, noticing that Catherine was coming over. He shook his head at her, standing up and taking Ginny's hand. He walked over to the bride's room and knocked on the door.  
  
"Is it time?" Sara called out.  
  
"Not yet," Grissom said. "I need to talk to you first."  
  
He could hear her sigh. "You have an impeccable sense of bad timing, Grissom."  
  
"It's about Ginny."  
  
The door opened a crack, and Ginny and Grissom slipped through. Grissom stared at Sara for a moment. She looked beautiful in her cream colored wedding gown. It was simple: long sleeves, a scoop neckline, and flared out gracefully from her waist to the floor. There were no roses or ruffles, or even a long train. That wasn't Sara. Even her veil was simple, held in her hair by a comb and trailing down her back to her waist. She had gone for the same simplicity with dresses for the other women in the wedding, even Lindsey.  
  
"I wanna be in the wedding!" Ginny declared, her lower lip trembling.  
  
Sara smiled down at Ginny. "Honey, don't you want to sit with Gramma Brown and Aunt Bertha?"  
  
Ginny shook her head. "I wanna be near you!"  
  
Sara looked at Grissom helplessly. It was ten minutes until the wedding was supposed to start, and she recognized the warning signs of a full-blown temper tantrum. When Ginny got going, nothing stopped her except a lack of energy. Which could be anywhere from ten minutes to two hours.  
  
Grissom smiled at Sara. "Maybe we can solve two problems at once," he suggested. When Sara looked at him quizzically, he explained his plan. Both Sara and Ginny smiled.  
  
Catherine poked her head in the door. "Hey, Warrick is about to walk his grandmother down the aisle. Shouldn't Ginny be with his aunt?"  
  
Grissom shook his head. "Ginny will be walking with me."  
  
Catherine blinked, then smiled. "She'll be an adorable bridesmaid."  
  
Ginny beamed at Catherine as the three left the room. Catherine explained the new arrangements to the others, who all smiled. The music started, and Warrick entered the sanctuary, his grandmother on his arm. At the end of the aisle, he kissed her on her cheek before she took her seat next to his aunt and he took his place in the front of the church.  
  
Grissom and Ginny were next. Both Catherine and Mandy had quickly taken flowers from their bouquets and fashioned one for Ginny. Grissom held Ginny's hand as they walked down the aisle together. The members of the congregation smiled at the incongruous sight of Grissom with the little girl. Ginny was smiling broadly, happy to be in her mommy's wedding. Dr. Robbins, sitting next to his wife, was looking extremely amused. Warrick was grinning as well, and Ginny grinned back at him.  
  
At the end of the aisle, as originally planned, Grissom turned and went to stand on one of the risers behind where Sara would be. Mandy and Greg would be opposite him behind Warrick, and Catherine and Nick would be right next to the bride and groom. Now, though, Grissom wouldn't be standing alone.  
  
Greg and Mandy took their spot, and then Nick escorted Catherine down the aisle. Lindsey followed, rose petals fluttering in her wake. She took her seat next to Brass. The organist changed music to the traditional bridal march, and everyone stood. Sara came down the aisle alone, her eyes not looking at anyone but Warrick. He had the same fixed gaze. As far as they were concerned, no one else was in the room.  
  
Warrick took her hand when she reached him, and they turned to the minister. As he started the familiar words of the marriage ceremony, Grissom couldn't help but think that it could have been him there with Sara, making a family with Ginny. But Sara had never looked at Grissom they way she was looking at Warrick now, and it was better for Ginny if her life was less complicated.  
  
Grissom's attention was brought back to the wedding when the minister asked who was giving Sara's hand in marriage. Since Sara's parents were no longer living, they had asked the minister to leave that part out. Apparently he forgot. Sara's smile slipped, and everyone in the wedding party froze. Warrick turned to the minister, but Grissom had reacted faster, leaning down to whisper in Ginny's ear. She looked up at him, and when he nodded, she piped up.  
  
"I do!"  
  
A wave of gentle laughter went through the church. Everyone smiled at Ginny, and Sara and Warrick both gave Grissom smiles of gratitude before turning back to the minister, who had realized his error, and was blushing.  
  
The rest of the wedding went perfectly, Sara and Warrick speaking their vows and exchanging rings, and the kiss to end the ceremony and mark the start of their married life together. After they walked down the aisle, arm in arm and smiling, the others followed - Catherine and Nick, Greg and Mandy, and then Grissom and Ginny.  
  
Once out of the sanctuary, Ginny immediately ran to Warrick and demanded a kiss. He picked her up and gave her one, then Sara joined him, caressing her daughter's hair. The three of them approached Grissom.  
  
"Thanks Gil," Warrick said. "That was awkward. I thought Reverend Johnson would remember..."  
  
Grissom shrugged. "She only told the truth," he said with a smile. They smiled as well.  
  
"Yeah, she did," Warrick said, hugging his new daughter. Sara laughed.  
  
Grissom smiled as they turned to speak to the wedding attendees who were leaving the sanctuary, Warrick holding Ginny on his hip with one arm, the other around Sara. They were a family now, the three of them.  
  
The rest of the day passed quickly, but a few moments would always stand out to the people at the wedding, like Greg Sanders getting tipsy on champagne at the reception and doing an Elvis impersonation, then joining the women in the line to catch the bouquet. Luckily for all present, Mandy caught the bouquet. The real fun came when Warrick went to throw the garter. Grissom had to be dragged into the line by Nick, protesting all the way. Then no guy went anywhere near the thing when it was thrown. It took three tries before the garter landed on Grissom's arm. He tried to shake it off, but no one would let him get away with it. They made him keep it, and then dance with Mandy. When Catherine told Grissom he was now the next guy in the room to get married, Nick groaned, saying he and Greg were destined to be bachelors for life then. Grissom just shook his head.  
  
Sara and Warrick slipped quietly away from the reception, trying to leave without any pranks being pulled on them. Grissom noticed however, and caught up with them at their car. He handed them an envelope.  
  
"Congratulations, Sara and Warrick."  
  
Sara opened the envelope and then looked at Grissom. "Gris, this is too much," she started to say, but he shook his head.  
  
"You both deserve it," he said with a smile. "I already arranged to cover your time off, and Catherine agreed to watch Ginny if your grandmother doesn't want too. All you have to do is have a good time."  
  
They both thanked him as they got into the car. He knew they had postponed a honeymoon because the shift needed them. Grissom knew that the shift would always need them, so he had begged and borrowed people from the dayshift to cover and then made reservations for Warrick and Sara at a resort in Arizona. The plane tickets for the next morning were in the envelope he had given them.  
  
Catherine, holding Ginny, came out to watch them drive off. Ginny immediately reached for Grissom, surprising him. He took her from Catherine, and Ginny leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and falling asleep instantly.  
  
"She was wondering where you were," Catherine said.  
  
"I had to talk to Warrick and Sara before they left."  
  
"Were they surprised?"  
  
"Very," he said with a smile.  
  
Catherine looked at him as he looked at the sleeping girl in his arms. "Why don't you take Ginny home with you tonight?"  
  
Grissom looked at her, shocked. "I told Sara that she would be with you," he said carefully.  
  
Catherine smiled gently. "I know, Grissom. I asked Sara, and she told me the truth. And I know that you're stepping aside, for Ginny's sake. But that doesn't mean that you have to be out of her life forever."  
  
Grissom looked at Ginny again. She was sleeping soundly, secure in his arms. He envied her ability to trust people so easily.  
  
"Go on," Catherine said. "I'll pick her up tomorrow. Spend one night with your daughter, Grissom. You deserve it."  
  
Grissom finally nodded. He wanted this - one night as Ginny's father, though she wouldn't realize it. Catherine smiled and helped him get Ginny into his car. She watched Grissom drive away. She knew how much it had to hurt her friend to let go of his daughter to another man, even one he was as close to as he was with Warrick.  
  
Catherine couldn't do much about that, but she could give Grissom this chance. She knew he wouldn't sleep, not wanting to miss a moment of the time he had with her. And no matter what happened in the future, Grissom would always have the memory of being Ginny's father, if only for one night. 


End file.
